The concept of capability in pre-registration nursing education: A scoping review

Capability in nursing education is an emerging concept that includes various requisites, which can be applied in complex or unfamiliar clinical settings. Despite growing research for practising nurses, the requisites of capability for pre-registration nursing students entering the workforce remain unclear. The objective was to identify the requisites that constitute capability for practice among pre-registration nursing students as well as the enablers to develop capabilities. A scoping review was performed using the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology. Records published without date restriction were searched using MEDLINE, Embase, Emcare, CINAHL, and Scopus databases. Grey literature and reference list searching was conducted. Sources explicitly reporting requisites of capability or enablers of capability development in pre-registration nursing education were eligible. All global sources written in English and available in full text were included. Data were extracted and synthesised using a specifically designed extraction tool. The number of records reviewed totalled 896. Twenty-three studies met the criteria for inclusion in the synthesis. Nineteen capability requisites for practice were reported. Whilst various enablers to support development of capability requisites were reported, some challenges were also identified. This study identified requisites of capability for practice and enablers that may support development of capability in pre-registration nursing education. This holistic set of capabilities has previously not been reported. Given the emerging nature of the concept, this collective set of requisites may not be indicative of all required capabilities of nursing students upon graduation. Efforts to develop a definitive set of requisites and explore strategies to support and enable capability development are needed to advance this concept in the pre-registration nursing education context. •Capability is increasingly used to describe essential elements for nursing practice.•This scoping review highlights 19 capability requisites for pre-registration nurses.•Various enablers may support capability development in pre-registration education.•To advance this concept of capability, a consistent set of requisites is required.